Additional research is needed to learn more about the parents that used literacy activities as an escape in their childhood from traumatic life events occurring around them. Horsman (1999) discusses that she found many of the women in her study used reading as an escape from the realities of violence in their lives and she went on to question the connections between these experiences and their literacy learning as adults. This line of research would also be beneficial for studying issues such as their own resiliency and the kinds of attitudes and beliefs these parents hold regarding barriers they have faced.

In this study, the parents were asked to report on any household activities rather than specifically on literacy events. The reason for this was to try to get a more natural response, rather than have parents write what they might think they should if literacy was being examined. It would be helpful to see how parents self–report through either written or oral diaries on the literacy events occurring in their homes if they are aware that literacy is being examined. The question also remains whether the parents would change in either quantity or quality their practices by increasing their awareness of what is occurring at home related to literacy when the subject is brought to a greater awareness level by self report.

I also would change an aspect of the journal activity to enhance the process and to discover if emancipatory elements in journal writing can be discovered for low–income families. I would consider more open–ended journals and would encourage participants to not only write in sentence format, but to sketch and doodle if they chose this as a means to represent their thoughts and ideas.

Finally, an additional area of inquiry, where there has only been limited discussion, is on the role of the father in child development, or more specifically literacy, at various ages in the child's life. In my study, it was evident that homework and other school–like activities were gendered tasks for the mothers of children in the early years, regardless of the involvement of the father in the family. However, I have no information on whether the father assumes greater responsibility at another age in the life of the child or whether the gender of the student makes a difference in the father's level or type of involvement.